


What happens in the cockpit...

by Apple_Queen



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Airplane Sex, Airplanes, Alternate Universe - Flight Attendants, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Pilots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 10:53:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20080999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apple_Queen/pseuds/Apple_Queen
Summary: Sansa Stark loves her job as a flight attendant working with her friend Margaery. She does not love, or even like very much, Jaime Lannister- the grumpiest pilot on the line. When Sansa’s old friend Brienne shows up for her first day as a co-pilot and is paired with Jaime Lannister, Sansa knows it’s not going to be smooth sailing. But she never would have guessed that the pair being locked in the tiny cockpit together for nine hours would lead to this...





	What happens in the cockpit...

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Friday everyone! Here is more fluff, and probably the closest to a sex scene I’ll ever write...
> 
> Disclaimer: I am a complete Jon Snow about everything to do with piloting and flight attendants so have basically just made up all that stuff in whatever way suits me.

Sansa’s favourite part of her working day was always the start. Striding purposefully across the runway, then carefully ascending the stairs up to the aircraft with her heels making pleasing little clicking noises on the metal. She would imagine herself on a catwalk, all eyes on her with admiration. Today, she was joined by her friend Margaery, one of the other flight attendants. Margaery chattered non stop for the entire walk, covering an impressively wide array of topics but rather ruining Sansa’s pretend catwalk experience.

“Who do we have today?” Asked Margaery, somehow managing to talk, pull her miniature wheeled suitcase and neatly apply lipstick simultaneously.

Sansa pulled her diary out of her pocket and flipped it open. Most people said it was old fashioned to have a paper diary nowadays, but Sansa loved to write things in and decorate it prettily.

“Pilot: Lannister.”

“Oh Gods, yes please!” Purred Margaery, fanning herself with her free hand. Sansa had never really seen the appeal, she couldn’t deny that he was more attractive than most film stars, but he was almost old enough to be her father and was usually downright grumpy. One of the flight attendants’ favourite topics of conversation was what had happened to make ‘Captain Grumpy Lion’ so unpleasant, their guesses ranging from a broken heart to spiralling debt due to a secret gambling addiction. Not that his grumpiness mattered really, the flight attendants never saw much of the pilots once they were locked into the cockpit, but Sansa always hated to think of his poor co-pilot being given a hard time.

“Co-pilot: Tarth. It’s my old friend Brienne! Her first flight!” Squealed Sansa excitedly. Brienne was practically an honourary Stark, she and her father had travelled to Winterfell for all the major holidays as far back as she could remember. Sansa wasn’t even sure any longer how the two families had first met, although she did remember Brienne’s mother dying and Sansa’s mother trying to take her under her wing.

“I went to school with Brienne, she’s such a darling! I didn’t know she’d qualified!” Exclaimed Margaery as they entered the empty aircraft and started work.

Prepping the plane for the long flight to Mereen was dull but Sansa took great pride in making sure everything was laid out neatly, especially in business class where she would be spending most of the flight. 

After half an hour of checking they had enough food and drink on board, she was distracted by footsteps on the stairs and their pilot for the flight emerged. Wayfarer sunglasses were perched on his nose and his golden locks were tousled in a way that Sansa suspected was supposed to look careless but actually took quite some time to achieve. He strode past them with a brief greeting to sit in the cockpit with the door ajar, typing furiously into his phone. Sansa trotted in with his coffee, hoping she’d remembered correctly and black no sugar was how he liked it. 

“Where’s my co-pilot?” He asked her, sounding irritable even by his standards.

“I’m sure she won’t be much longer Captain,” replied Sansa meekly, wishing she could give the more accurate but attitude filled answer of ‘it’s not my bloody job to know that.’

“She?” He questioned, voice dangerously low. “I’m being lumbered with a woman?”

Before Sansa could attempt to placate him, she was interrupted by Margaery screaming “Brienne!” and an “ooof” noise as Margaery threw herself at the taller woman in a violent hug. Sansa pelted down the aisle and joined the hug, sandwiching Brienne between the two flight attendants.

Their reunion only lasted a few seconds though as their pilot clearly took exception to their display.

“Who told you that’s a woman Sansa?”

Margaery and Sansa both bristled, but Brienne extricated herself and shot them a look that said ‘don’t get yourselves in trouble trying to defend me, I don’t need it.’

“My name is Brienne Tarth, and I can assure you I am a woman. Not that it has any bearing on my ability to do my job,” said Brienne steadily, with the air of someone trying to rise above a child’s taunting.

“Woman? More like a big burly serving wench. And you’re late,” groused the pilot.

“I think you’ll find that you’re early actually, and I arrived right on time.”

“Late means any time after I arrive, and you should be starting work right now not flirting with the flight attendants.”

Brienne tried to brush past him to make her way into the cockpit but Jaime didn’t seem to have finished exerting his dominance because he tried to get through the narrow opening at the same time. Brienne won their little wrestling match so Jaime was left to follow after her with a sour expression on his face. Sansa was sure she caught him glancing appreciatively at Brienne’s long legs that were displayed to advantage in her uniform pencil skirt though.

Sansa’s heart went out to Brienne. To have her first flight paired with Lannister was terrible. It was such a long flight too, she couldn’t imagine how awful it would be to have to spend so many hours stuck in a little box room with the man. If only Brienne could have been put with someone like Selmy. He was such a professional, and always had a kind word to spare for Sansa.

The sound of their arguing about take off protocols drifted out into the main aircraft. Brienne, as always, seemed to want to do everything exactly to the book, but Jaime didn’t seem so keen on that. Sadly, the Wench nickname seemed to be sticking. Sansa hurried in with a coffee for Brienne and a couple of packets of her favourite biscuits, chocolate bourbons, hoping that might make her friend smile, if only for a minute. 

“Thanks Sansa,” said Brienne gratefully.

“Why do I never get biscuits?” Asked Jaime petulantly.

Sansa scowled at him in a way that she hoped said ‘no biscuits for misogynistic arseholes’. But Brienne just sighed and slid him one of her packets. 

Shortly after that the cockpit was locked and Sansa had to plaster on what she called her ‘work smile’ to greet the passengers and distribute the complimentary little bottles of champagne.

The captain’s speech was the worst that Sansa had ever heard. Mainly because Jaime introduced Brienne as Brian, then could be heard condescendingly explaining to her that nobody wanted to be flown by a woman when she corrected him. Her righteous anger was obvious in every syllable of her speech about the flight path and weather conditions.

The first couple of hours of the flight passed uneventfully, with the usual attempts to flog duty free goods that nobody wanted and cries of “but I can’t eat that, I’m a gluten intolerant vegan” from passengers who hadn’t declared any dietary requirements. Sansa met Margaery in the kitchen alcove whilst the passengers were eating for a quick gossip about Brienne and Jaime. They’d both overheard the strangest things when passing by the cockpit, Margaery had heard something about a “plank” and Sansa was sure she had heard “dust”. They had no idea what plank and dust could mean, perhaps flying terminology. Margaery suggested that they draw to decide who delivered the meals to the cockpit, so Sansa hid the ends of a little plastic fork and a little plastic spoon in her hand and Margaery chose one.

“Awww, spoon- you win,” declared Margaery and passed Sansa the tray with the two meals on. 

After tapping on the door, Sansa had to wait for some time before Brienne’s stressed looking face appeared in the gap.

“Are you ok?” She whispered as she handed over the tray.

“Not really but I’ll get through it- only another five hours to go.”

“Get that door shut Wench, you know the rules!” Shouted Jaime from somewhere within the cockpit.

Sansa shot Brienne a sympathetic pout as she shut the door. She really didn’t deserve this, Brienne looked and acted tough, but underneath all the false bravado she was actually sweet and kind and just wanted to be loved.

All seven hells broke out an hour later. The screaming from the cockpit could be heard throughout the plane. Sansa shuddered to think what Jaime had said or done to elicit such a response from Brienne, the queen of turning the other cheek.

Sansa did the only thing she could think of in these circumstances: “Would anyone like another complimentary glass of champagne?”

Thankfully, the screaming stopped just as suddenly as it had started so Sansa allowed herself to chicken out of buzzing them on the intercom. After that, if they did continue to speak to each other, Brienne and Jaime did so quietly enough not to be overheard for the rest of the flight. And somehow, the pair managed to land the plane safely. Sansa hoped they were both still alive in there and the silence wasn’t because one had killed the other. She reassured herself with the thought that Brienne would probably win in a fight with Jaime- she had an inch or two on him and was very keen on kickboxing.

Sansa and Margaery stood tiredly by the doors as the passengers disembarked into the dry heat of Mereen. The cockpit didn’t open. They made their rounds tidying up and checking stock. The cockpit still didn’t open. Sansa started to worry. She and Margaery slid into the seats opposite the cockpit and stared at the door in thought.

“Do you think they’ve killed each other?” Whispered Margaery.

“They managed to land the plane safely, so if they have it was after that... did you hear any murdery sounds?”

Margaery stifled a giggle behind her hand, but her eyes said she was also starting to get concerned. They probably had another fifteen minutes or so until the cleaners arrived, and if they found the cockpit still locked they wouldn’t hesitate to radio the command centre. If only they could open the door from the outside, mused Sansa, at a loss as to what to do.

Suddenly, with an almighty grinding noise, the aeroplane’s wing flaps started to flip up and down in a way Sansa had never seen before, not in three years of working as a flight attendant. Then the main door bolts started to fly in and out rhythmically.

“You don’t think...” said Margaery in disbelief.

“No! Margaery, you always have your mind in the gutter! They’re probably testing the controls or something!” Exclaimed Sansa.

“I’m going to look!” Margaery ran down the stairs and carefully snuck towards the front of the aircraft, moving surprisingly quickly for someone in heels. Sansa watched helplessly from the top of the stairs. Surely Brienne wouldn’t... not with him...

“I can’t see much,” whisper shouted Margaery breathlessly as she bounced up and down to try and get a better view, “just his back, I think he’s sitting on the control panel. They are so at it!”

From her position at the top of the stairs, Sansa saw the cleaners making their way towards the aircraft, carrying their buckets of cleaning supplies. 

“Margaery! Come back! The cleaners are coming, we have to do something!” The door bolts flew in and out a few more times and the lights started to flick on and off.

Standing in front of the intercom, they had a rapid disagreement about who should buzz them.

“Together?” Suggested Sansa desperately, aware that they probably only had a few more minutes. Margaery agreed and held the handset out in front of them.

Sansa cleared her throat. “Erm... are you ok in there?”

“Because the cleaners are coming so you need to FINISH UP pronto,” concluded Margaery.

There was the sound of annoyed muffled voices then the line was abruptly cut. Sansa and Margaery stared at each other in consternation for what felt like ages, both holding their breath. Then the door finally opened.

Jaime stumbled out, looking as if he’d been pushed then the door was pulled back to. Sansa had never seen the usually well groomed pilot in such a state. His hat and tie were both wonky, his shirt buttons didn’t match up and he had what looked like a hickey on his neck. His facial expression could only be described as stunned. He walked slowly out onto the runway, raising a hand in farewell. In all fairness, he didn’t look capable of speech, thought Sansa.

A minute passed then Brienne emerged, better dressed but the colour of a beetroot. She tried to sidle innocuously to the door but Margaery wasn’t having that.

“Where do you think you’re going?! We need to know EVERYTHING!”

“I’ll try to call you... in a few days maybe, might be a bit busy for a while...” said Brienne over her shoulder as she made a bid for freedom and sprinted down the stairs. Half way down she paused and seemed to remember something, because she ran back up and disappeared into the cockpit again. Sansa saw her fish something small and possibly lacy from under a chair and try to hide it under her jacket before she ran off again.

“Where do they keep the black box Sansa? I need to know what happened in there like I need air!”

“Brienne tamed the lion,” was all Sansa could manage to say in response, she thought she might be in shock.

The sound of the cleaners clattering up the stairs brought them both back to earth and they finally stepped out into the bright sunshine. Half way to the terminal, they saw Brienne making her way over to a lost looking Jaime. 

“I told you to wait inside!” She chastised.

“I missed you,” he said pathetically and slung an arm around her hips, caressing her bottom on the way.

In response, Brienne sighed audibly and told him he was ridiculous but didn’t push him away.

“I would never have put them together but they just go don’t they?” Said Margaery wistfully.

“Yeah,” replied Sansa, seeing the truth of it. They seemed to round each other out somehow. “She’s not going to tell us anything though is she. I didn’t think it was possible to go that red...”

***

A week later, Sansa was almost over the shock of her most bizarre shift to date. She was enjoying her week off at home with her parents, and had miraculously managed not to tell her mother anything about Brienne’s escapade. She had resisted even when faced with questions such as “how’s Brienne?”, “how was her first flight?”, and worst of all “does she have a nice young man yet?” 

She was in the middle of a row with Rickon about what to put on the tv (Sansa wanted to watch Say Yes to the Dress:Essos Edition, Rickon wanted to watch some sport that Sansa had absolutely no interest in- ice hockey or motorbike racing or something), when her phone pinged with a new email.

Title: Changes to shift allocations.

Sansa groaned internally, thinking of all the pages she would have to replace in her planner- crossings out would never be tolerated in Sansa’s pristine diary! Scanning through the rota, she blinked then read it again. No Brienne or Jaime for another two weeks, and when they did fly again it was a flight back from Mereen to Kings Landing. Together. Even more suspicious.

She made herself a cup of tea and thought about Brienne a bit more. Eventually, she decided to call her, just to be a good friend and check she was ok, it wasn’t at all to try and rustle up some gossip to share with Margaery.

Brienne answered on the last ring, sounding flustered.

“Hi Brienne! How are you? I was just wondering if you wanted to meet for coffee?” Chattered Sansa innocently.

“Oh, erm, that would be lovely but we, I mean I, decided to stay in Mereen for a bit of a holiday. I won’t be back in Kings for a couple of weeks, maybe if I call you when I’m back we can set a date?”

A deeper voice in the background cut in, asking who was on the phone. Brienne ineffectually muffled the phone to shhhh the voice but he just shouted louder, “Are you embarrassed of me?! But I looooove you babycakes!” 

Brienne giggled in a way Sansa had never heard before, “I’m sorry but I have to go, we’ll meet up when I’m back.” She tried to hang up the phone but failed, probably something to do with the snogging noises Sansa could hear.

She knew she shouldn’t have kept the line open after Brienne thought she’d hung up, but Sansa was at heart an incredibly nosy person, and the temptation was just too great. Sansa mentally stored up the conversation she overheard to quote back to Margaery verbatim at the earliest opportunity. It was irrefutable proof that they hadn’t imagined or over-embellished the events of that flight to Mereen.

“Jaime, I don’t care how golden you say you are, you need to wear sun screen!”

“I didn’t realise you cared so much Wench,” rumbled Jaime’s voice in the background.

“Of course I do, now just hold still a minute...”

“You missed a spot.”

“I’m not putting sun screen down there! It’s covered by your trunks so it can’t burn anyway!”

“Are you sure? Maybe we should go back to the room and you can check?”

There were more kissing noises and some moans. Sansa chose that moment to hang up and dial Margaery. If those two ever got married, they would have the best stories to tell in their bridesmaids speech.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, hope it wasn’t too silly! I may write this from Jaime or Brienne’s POV at some point if there’s interest in reading that (and after I’ve finished my WIPs...)


End file.
